Tracing Sri Lanka's missing children

Photo courtesy: AFP

By Mel Gunasekera | Agence France-Press (AFP)
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Two and a half years after the end of Sri Lanka's bloody ethnic conflict, hundreds of families displaced by the war are still engaged in a fraught, exhausting search for missing children.

Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Tamil civilians were caught up in the chaos of the military's ferocious final assault on cornered Tamil Tiger rebels in the jungles of northeast Sri Lanka in April and May 2009.

As the offensive intensified, Usha Devi Selvaratnam said goodbye to her teenage son, Sivakajan, having sold a gold chain to buy him passage on a rebel-controlled vessel bound for the relative safety of the northern Jaffna peninsula.

She never saw him again.

"There is no trace of him... just a big hole in my heart," she told AFP in Vavuniya where huge numbers of refugees were interned in the months following the end of the war.

Sivakajan left home with just a backpack, containing clothes, identification papers, as well as textbooks and school attendance records to prove that he was not a fighter with the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Usha heard that her son had been taken in for questioning by the military with other passengers when the boat docked in Jaffna. But since then, nothing, despite countless requests to the authorities for information.

"We want to know what happened to our children. I believe my son is still alive. If he died, I need proof. I think all families with missing children have a right to know, to bury the past, to enjoy freedom after war," she said.

Uncovering the fate of the missing like Sivakajan is extremely complex.

Some parents fear their teenage children may have been picked up by the LTTE and forced to fight in the rebels' final stand.

Others believe they are being held by the authorities or that they managed to escape overseas but have been unable to contact their families.

In the case of younger children, there are concerns they may have fallen foul of traffickers or even been adopted by families unwilling to give them up.

The underlying fear is that they were simply killed in the final offensive that the United Nations estimates cost up to 40,000 civilian lives.

"Tracing missing children is a very sensitive issue," said Brigadier S. Galgamuwa, a consultant for the Vavuniya-based Family Tracing and Reunification Unit.

Run by the government with assistance from the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the unit is currently trying to trace 370 boys and 327 girls who have been reported missing since the conflict ended.

Officials acknowledge that the actual number of missing children is probably far higher, with most cases not being formally registered.

So far 49 children have been traced by the unit and contacts re-established with their parents and relatives.

But the work has been hampered by a lack of reliable documentation, especially relating to the movement of families in the final, chaotic weeks of the fighting.

"It is likely that some of the children reported as missing may actually have died in the conflict -- the knowledge of which may help to bring some kind of closure to the families," said UNICEF child protection specialist Saji Thomas.

However, confirming the fate of those on the list is "very time consuming" and requires input from multiple sources including health officials and law enforcement officers, Thomas said.

In some cases, the period of separation has been so long that children do not even recognise their parents or other relatives.

"In these instances, government probation officers intervene to help build trust between the children and their care givers so that they are comfortable enough to return to their families," Thomas said.

For some like 19-year-old Kaushy, who was rescued by the military from the LTTE-run orphanage where she grew up in northern Mullattivu, there are no relatives to be reunited with.

"I have no family. The only families I've seen are in Hindi films," she told AFP as she watched other orphans at the Don Bosco children's home in Vavuniya play hopscotch in the garden.

Sister Pettilda Fernando, who runs the home, said many orphans like Kaushy had been "brainwashed" by their LTTE minders, who co-opted many to fight in the rebels' ranks or train as suicide bombers.

Erashakumar, 19, says the only father figure for most orphans like herself was LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran, who was killed in the final days of the military victory over the separatists.

"People say uncle (Prabhakaran) died fighting. Yes, we miss him," Erashakumar said.

The government has published pictures of the orphans in the Tamil press, but nobody has come forward to claim the children.

"They may never trace their families. But they are also God's children. They need love and understanding," said Fernando.

© AFP

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China, Sri Lanka's top lender

Lanka Business Online
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China has emerged as the top lender to Sri Lanka in the nine months to September 2011, in terms of money actually disbursed and loans committed for new projects, finance ministry data shows.

Up to September 2011, China has disbursed 599.9 million US dollars out of a total of 1,573.9 billion US dollars.

Japan came second with 239.4 million US dollars of which 11.9 million were grants and India third with 179 million US dollars, a finance ministry report said.

Asian Development Bank disbursed 171.8 million US dollars of which 12.5 million were grants and the World Bank 166.2 million dollars of which 4.7 million were grants.

Japan has traditionally been Sri Lanka's largest source of foreign financing. Though the financing is given at concessionary rates, the rising yen has increased the cost of past borrowings.

China is giving loans at near commercial terms through mainly from its Export Import Banks to finance Chinese project goods and construction services.

Sri Lanka has increased procurements from export import banks in recent years from other countries as well.

China also committed the most money to new projects in the nine months to September accounting for 784.7 million dollars out of 1,802.09 million dollars.

Japan came second with 520.48 million US dollars. ADB was third with 231.1 million dollars and World Bank third with 103.5 million US dollars followed by UN agencies with 79.52 million US dollars.

© LBO

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Sri Lanka devalues currency, ups defence budget

Courtesy: Daily Mirror

By Amal Jayasinghe | AFP
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Sri Lanka announced Monday a surprise three percent depreciation of the rupee against a basket of currencies in a move to boost exports, as it released a 2012 budget that boosts defence spending.

Sri Lanka's central bank has said the rupee has been steadily appreciating against other currencies since the end of the island's decades-long Tamil separatist war in May 2009.

Economic woes in Europe and the United States have also led to a downturn in demand for Sri Lanka's exports, government officials said.

"I have asked the Central Bank (of Sri Lanka) to depreciate the rupee by three percent with immediate effect," President Mahinda Rajapakse told parliament as he unveiled the budget.

"This is to remain competitive with our neighbours," he said.

Official sources said it was the first time in more than a decade that the government has carried out a "single stroke" depreciation of the rupee.

Sri Lanka's central bank has maintained a "managed float" with the local unit tied to a basket of foreign currencies.

The central bank said the rupee had appreciated 7.4 percent last year against the basket of currencies including the dollar, the pound and the euro.

"Our exporters find it difficult to remain competitive," Rajapakse said.

Neighbouring India's rupee has fallen by nearly 15 percent this year against the dollar as investor concerns about the eurozone debt crisis and a slowing domestic economy have pumped demand for the US currency.

The president added he was also keen to reduce imports of goods that could be easily manufactured on the island, saying he was offering tax breaks to small industries to make medical supplies and food supplements to save millions of dollars spent on imports.

The budget included an increase in defence spending, despite the end of the ethnic conflict, with some 230 billion rupees ($2.1 billion) to be spent on defence in 2012, up from 215 billion rupees this year.

Security authorities say they need to keep defence spending high to repay loans on military hardware purchased to fight the Tamil Tigers during nearly four decades of ethnic conflict which claimed up to 100,000 lives.

Rajapakse also announced a new move to re-take some 37,000 hectares (91,428 acres) of plantations leased to private companies, saying that the land had not been properly utilised.

The takeover announcement came hot on the heels of criticism over another move earlier this month to nationalise 37 private companies which had either leased or bought state land in the past 20 years.

As part of new revenue-raising measures, Rajapakse hiked taxes on luxury vehicles while cigarette and alcohol prices were increased just before the budget. He also announced a 10 percent salary increase for public servants.

The country's total spending in 2012 is estimated at 2.22 trillion rupees while total revenue is estimated at 1.12 trillion rupees, figures showed.

© AFP

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Sri Lanka mulls police 'cash for big families' plan

By Charles Haviland | BBC News
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The government of Sri Lanka appears to want military and police families to have more children.

Presenting the annual budget speech on Monday, President Mahinda Rajapaksa announced that any police officer parenting a third child would be given a one-off cash grant of one hundred thousand Sri Lankan rupees.

The same grant was offered to army, navy and air force parents a year ago.

Delivering the budget in his capacity as finance minister, President Rajapaksa said that giving police families a sum equivalent to 900 dollars for parenting a third child was the mark of a "caring society."

He said the police and the rest of the security forces had fostered democracy, development and social reconciliation in Sri Lanka, and deserved this grant for having another child.

'Continued militarisation'

Nearly all members of the police and military currently come from the Sinhalese ethnic majority and the announcement was criticised by two civil society activists.

One, Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, said the police had done nothing to democratise Sri Lanka and asked why such grants should not be offered for every Sri Lankan child.

Another, Herman Kumara, said these special family grants continued a process of social “militarisation” and financial help should be given to farmers, fishermen and other food producers.

The police spokesman, Ajith Rohana, said however that his colleagues did a risky and difficult job and deserved such concessions.

Sri Lanka has a relatively low fertility rate of less than two children per woman.

A police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he would not be having a third child simply to get the grant.

“You can't bring a child up with 100,000 rupees,” he said.

© BBC News

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What a shootout between two politicians says about a nation

By Edward Mortimer | Huffington Post
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Since the end of its civil war against the ruthless Tamil Tigers (LTTE) in 2009, the Sri Lankan regime's own reputation for ruthlessness has grown. At its heart are the three Rajapaksa brothers - President Mahinda, defence secretary Gotabhaya ("Gota") and Economic Development Minister Basil - controlling a formidable military force that has quashed all resistance and committed many grave human rights abuses. For the Tamil and Muslim minorities, the end of the war has been marked by further discrimination and alienation. But for many who belong to the country's majority Sinhalese community, government restrictions on personal freedoms and the relentless militarisation of the island have seemed like a small price to pay for the prospect of national security and an end to the LTTE's brutal campaign for a separate state... until a disturbing incident last month provoked unease and dissent even in conservative Sinhalese circles.

On 8 October, in the Kolonnawa district of Sri Lanka's commercial capital, Colombo, Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra, an adviser on trade union affairs to the Sri Lankan president, was killed in broad daylight during a shoot-out with a group led by another parliamentarian, Duminda Silva, a Colombo district MP who had worked closely with Gota Rajapaksa. (Silva's website states he was the Ministry of Defence's monitoring officer - something the MoD is now struggling to deny.)

Premachandra and three of his supporters died on the spot. They had been shot repeatedly from head to toe with T-56 assault rifles. A police source said that at least 40 rounds were fired.

Two of the bullets ripped through Silva's skull. He was rushed to hospital and put on life support. A few days ago, the Sri Lankan press reported that he had been taken abroad for further treatment. During a parliamentary exchange the Leader of the House confirmed that no police statement had been taken from Silva because he had been judged unfit to speak. He added that Silva could not be prevented from leaving the country as "police had not identified him as a suspect". Gone is the man who might have been able to shed light on this shocking incident, a man alleged to have connections to the defence secretary and the Colombo underworld.

So what do we know? According to the police, violence between the two factions involved is both commonplace and common knowledge. But Premachandra and Silva were prominent politicians belonging to the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance, not gang members. And the timing of the shooting - just two hours before the close of local elections - also points to a political, not a strictly criminal, cause.

This is the stuff of gangster stories, of the Mafia and Camorra, of Martin Scorsese films. In Sri Lanka, it is just another day. Following the attack the Minister for Construction Wimal Weeranwansa - an ardent Rajapaksa supporter whose manufactured anti-UN protests have provoked much derision - told a public meeting that "when a politician goes with an underworld gang and shoots another politician dead, it is not good for the country". A breathtaking understatement that reveals the true nature of today's Sri Lanka.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has sought to create the illusion of a government that is strong and united, but this incident hints at the truth: Sri Lanka in is disarray. The Sunday Leader, a Sri Lankan broadsheet newspaper, has described the country as 'Oppressed North, Lawless South', where top politicians like the all-powerful Gota display thuggish behaviour and criminal affiliations. These are not mavericks or exceptions. Several other politicians have been involved in similar incidents. Mervyn Silva, for instance, currently Deputy Minister of Highways - previously Deputy Minister of Mass Media & Information, once tied a government official to a tree for his alleged failure to attend a dengue fever prevention programme. His name was also mentioned in connection with the murder of journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge in 2009.

Yet somehow, the Rajapaksa regime has managed to persuade the international community to believe in a very different Sri Lanka. At the Commonwealth heads of state meeting in Australia, just three weeks after the shooting, most leaders - with the notable exception of Canada - were happy to avoid discussing the human rights record of the country that will be hosting their meeting in 2013, whilst Sri Lankan representatives dismissed a UN war crimes report as "a travesty of justice and preposterous". They must have been delighted when the meeting's host, Australian prime minister Julia Gillard, said that Sri Lanka had to deal with its human rights issues itself.

On 14 and 15 November, foreign governments again fuelled the Rajapaksa myth by wining and dining with Gota during the 'Galle Dialogue' sessions in Sri Lanka. The guest list included representatives from Canada, Australia, France and the UK who had been invited to discuss strategic co-operation in the Indian Ocean. This sort of PR stunt, aimed at bolstering Sri Lanka's international reputation, would have been a golden opportunity for countries to take a stand. But instead of boycotting the event, the international community showed once again that it has little to offer other than platitudes.

Within the country at least, dissent is beginning to take hold. Last month's shoot-out sparked a newspaper frenzy, with much speculation on whether the defence secretary has been protecting Silva. Familiar allegations of Gota's connections to well-known thugs and criminals have gained a new lease of life, particularly the nature of his relationship with Silva, which many believe is the reason why Silva has not been named as a suspect in the shoot-out investigation and was allowed to leave the country. And this time, dissenting voices like the Sunday Leader have been joined by others that normally support the government (or are too afraid to speak out) such as Colombo Page and the Daily Mirror.

Sadly, the response has been another media clampdown. Two Sri Lankan news websites featuring articles and footage related to the incident, Lanka e News and Lanka Newsweb, have been blocked - another sign that, even though the war ended more than two years ago, the Rajapaksa regime is not ready to release its iron grip. Dissenters are still routinely accused of being LTTE supporters and are threatened or harassed, if not worse.

Sri Lanka's Sinhalese elite is finally realising that the end of the war will not bring freedom, rights or accountability. It is time that the global community wakes up too.

© Huffington Post

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Unruly govt. MPs try to manhandle opposition members during budget

By Kelum Bandara and Yohan Perera | Daily Mirror
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Parliamentary business was relegated to rowdy levels today during the budget speech of President Mahinda Rajapaksa with some unruly government MPs trying to manhandle and rough up UNP members who held aloft placards critical of the 2012 budget.

In the middle of the President’s budgetary speech, UNP MPs started shouting slogans against the budgetary proposals. They also rose on their feet holding aloft placards which said ‘Shame’ in all the three languages.

However, the action by the UNP provoked some government benchers to react angrily. Ruling party MP from the Kandy District Lohan Ratwatte was the first to run down towards the seat of Chief Opposition MP John Amaratunga. MP Ratwatte grabbed the placard that was in the hands of Mr. Amaratunga and ran back to his seat. His action appeared to be a signal for his other colleagues to unleash their anger against the UNP MPs.

Followed by Mr. Ratwatte, ruling party legislators such as Roshan Ranasinghe from Polonnaruwa, Chamika Buddhadasa from Badulla and Udith Lokubandara started trying to snatch away the placards and posters that were with the UNP members.

The situation led to unpleasant and unparliamentarily scenes in the House with some angry government members throwing water bottles at the UNP members. Heated cross talks ensued between the members of the two sides, and in one instance, MP Buddhadasa almost traded blows with UNP MP from Badulla Harin Fernando.

Deputy Education Minister Gamini Vijith Wijayamuni Zoisa also stormed into the well of the House and threw away the books and documents placed on the desks of the UNP members. Deputy Minister of Ports Development Rohitha Abeygunawardane then approached the seat of UNP MP Mangala Samaraweera and started confronting him with un-parliamentary language.

However, some senior government members such as Bandula Gunawardane were seen trying to calm their colleagues down and prevent any possible violent incidents.

The scenes that were unbecoming of parliamentarians were seen even by the members of the diplomatic missions in the Speaker’s gallery. After the incident, all the UNP MPs left the chamber.

They were heard saying that the violence used by the government to suppress the rights of people is now being used inside the House as well.
Despite the commotion created by the members, the President continued with his speech.

© Daily Mirror

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Sri Lanka tipped to raise defence spending

Agence France-Presse (AFP)
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Sri Lanka's president is expected to raise defence spending when he unveils his 2012 budget Monday, officials said, even though the country's bloody civil war came to an end two-and-a-half years ago.

As the island nation's export-dependent economy is hit by a downturn in key US and European markets, Mahinda Rajapakse, who is also finance minister, is expected to outline plans to cut the country's deficit and raise new revenues.

Finance ministry officials said the budget will forecast a growth rate of 8.0 percent for 2012, down from an earlier projection of 9.0 percent, and estimated 8.5 percent growth in 2011, unchanged from previous estimates.

The slower growth outlook was tied to economic woes in Europe and the United States, where leaders are struggling to overcome spiralling debt problems that have resulted in lower spending on exports, officials said.

As a result, Sri Lanka's budget deficit is projected to hit 6.2 percent of gross domestic product next year, compared with a previous forecast of 5.2 percent, officials said.

The new estimate is still lower than the 6.8 percent tipped for 2011.

Official figures tabled in parliament showed 230 billion rupees ($2.1 billion) would be spent on defence in 2012, up from 215 billion rupees this year.

Security authorities say they need to keep defence spending high to repay loans on military hardware purchased to fight the Tamil Tigers during nearly four decades of ethnic conflict that ended in May 2009.

Sri Lanka's military is also recruiting, despite claiming victory over the rebel group and declaring an end to a civil war which claimed the lives of up to 100,000 people.

Rajapakse was also expected to raise new taxes, including higher cigarette and alcohol duties, although few details were available.

The country's total spending in 2012 is estimated at 2.22 trillion rupees while total revenue is estimated at 1.12 trillion rupees, figures showed.

© AFP

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Sri Lanka war probe report delivered to president

By Ranga Sirilal | Reuters
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The Sri Lankan panel investigating the end of a quarter-century war with Tamil Tiger separatists delivered its report to President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Sunday (20), a step awaited by Western nations urging investigations into war crimes allegations.

Rajapaksa has said he will make public the findings of the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), Sri Lanka's answer to calls from some Western governments, overseas Tamil Tiger supporters and rights groups for an independent investigation.

"The final report was handed over to the president by its chairman. The president will now study the report," Bandula Jayasekara, the president's director general of media, said.

It is expected to be presented to parliament in December, officials have said, but the government has yet to give a date.

Many Western nations, India and others have said a credible report by the LLRC would, in conjunction with political concessions to minority Tamils, obviate the need for an outside inquiry.

The report says there appears to be enough evidence to warrant the government investigating incidents that may have occurred in the last months of the war, which ended in May 2009, the Sri Lankan weekly Sunday Times reported.

"However, the Commission has neither named the specific incidents nor identified the persons responsible for them," the newspaper said.

The U.N.-sponsored report on Sri Lanka says there is "credible evidence" the military killed thousands of civilians at the climax of the war, which ended in Sri Lankan victory.

The government has said civilians were killed but rejects the bulk of the U.N. report as a regurgitation of allegations "fabricated" by the Tamil Tigers' overseas propaganda network, and says its soldiers acted in accordance with international law.

© Reuters

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Sri Lanka: Student union office sealed

By Dasun Edirisinghe | The Island
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Undergraduates of Sri Jayewardenepura University Saturday (19) night claimed that the university administration has sealed the Student Union office and damaged the photographs of the fallen student leaders in that room.

"The university administration threatened they would remove the statue of student hero opposite the university’s Sumangala building," IUSF Convener Sanjeewa Bandara told The Island.

According to the Mirihana Police five improvised explosive devices known by criminals as ‘duppi’ were founded at inside the university premises on Friday.

The bombs were found while some workers were repairing the new art gallery building of the university and police believe students may have hidden them to be used in a clash.

"Students never use bombs when battles," Bandara said, adding that the explosive devices had been introduced by the security personnel of the ‘Rakna Lanka’ firm attached to the Defence Ministry.

Vice Chancellor of the University Prof. N. L. A. Karunaratne was not available for immediate comments.

© The Island

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Tissainayagam denies former Attorney General's claims

By Raisa Wickrematunge | The Sunday Leader
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Senior Tamil journalist J. S Tissainayagam denied allegations that he “admitted his complicity” to an offence in order to gain a Presidential pardon.

The allegation was made on November 9, when a delegation led by Presidential Counsel and Senior Legal Adviser to the Cabinet Mohan Pieris answered questions raised by the Committee Against Torture on whether the Convention Against Torture was being properly implemented.

A delegate who said he was “personally involved” in Tissainayagam’s case claimed that the journalist had written to the President saying he was remorseful for his actions. “He had been convicted and sentenced, but his complicity in what he did was confirmed by his letter, which was sent through his lawyers. He did receive a pardon,” a UN press release said.

However, Tissainayagam denied this statement. “I wish to state that any allusion to my admitting complicity is completely false,” he said. He added that he did write to the President to receive pardon, but only to apologize in the event his writing had caused personal embarrassment to anyone. “I am unaware that embarrassing the President or the Government of Sri Lanka is a crime and that was not the crime I was accused of,” he pointed out.

As such Tissainayagam categorically denied that he was complicit in or remorseful about a crime.

Tissainayagam was convicted by the Colombo High Court in September 2008 for “causing communal disharmony”. They also found him guilty of funding his publication with LTTE money. He was sentenced for 20 years, but was later released following a Presidential pardon.

Pieris was not available when The Sunday Leader attempted to contact him.
Below is Tissainayagam’s full response to the delegation:

It was brought to my notice that [a delegation led by] the former Attorney General and now Senior Advisor to the Cabinet on Legal Affairs, Mohan Peiris, had made reference to me in an official reply to the Committee Against Torture (CAT) in Geneva this month.

This is what was said, “Concerning specific cases raised by the Committee, a delegate said he had been personally involved in the case of J. S. Tissainayagam. Mr. Tissainayagam personally wrote to the President asking for a pardon, saying he was remorseful for what he did. He had been convicted and sentenced, but his complicity in what he did was confirmed by his letter, which was sent through his lawyers. He did receive a pardon.”

I wish to state that any allusion to my admitting complicity is completely false. I did write to the President. Working as a journalist for over 20 years I never wrote to cause anyone personal embarrassment. I only wrote to highlight issues of public interest and in the hope the president and the government would take action to rectify the problems. If any of my writings had caused embarrassment to anyone (whether the president or anyone else) I had no qualms in apologizing as causing embarrassment has never been my intention.

I am unaware that embarrassing the president or the government of Sri Lanka is a crime and that was not the crime I was accused of in the High Court of Sri Lanka in September 2008. I wish to state that I have never committed any crime. Therefore, admitting remorse or complicity to any crime, in this letter to the president or otherwise, does not arise.

© The Sunday Leader

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